A Haunting in Venice Ending Explained | Book Changes | Spoilers

Agatha Christie -- This video explains the ending of A Haunting in Venice, as well as changes from the Hallowe'en Party book and the movie. There are spoilers in this video. This is your spoiler warning.

Other Agatha Christie Videos

Chapter Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:39 Plot Details
3:52 Who Done It?
5:30 Deaths Explained
8:45 Book Differences

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[internetkurator]

I always liked Ariadne Oliver, as an obviously ironic self-insert of Agatha Christie herself.

[mr.saturn]

Personally, I liked both versions, but the whole "loosely based on the book" is no joke. I highly suggest reading the book (although perhaps not the BEST of Agatha's novels, it is certainly my favorite so far, and I've read about half of them), but if you want a quick summary of the important points of the book, I'll list a quick summary of the important parts of the original novel down below.

SPOILER WARNING AHEAD!



Ariadne Oliver is invited as a guest of honor to a halloween party. There, thirteen year old Joyce Reynolds claims to have witnessed a murder when she was younger, but didn't realize it until she was older. Other children call her a liar, and her behavior in defending herself does seem like she's lying; but later, she is found drowned in the apple bobbing attraction, indicating SOMEONE believed her statement. Ariadne (having appeared in "Cards on the Table" and a few other Poirot novels) asks for Poirot to help her in finding out who killed Joyce, and the two set off for information. A few key points to keep in mind are as follows:

-Joyce was a known liar.
-Leopold suddenly came into a fortune.
-There are four different unusual deaths/unsolved murders in the area (only the death of Mrs. Llewellyn-Smythe and the stabbing of Leslie Ferrier are the key victims for this case).
-Miss Emlyn thought that Rowena Drake might have seen something in the hallway to startle her, causing her to drop a large vase full of flowers and water. (Keep in mind, the library where the apple bobbing game was held was down the hallway.)

Later, Poirot determines that Joyce was probably lying about having witnessed a murder, but it leaves open the question, "Why did someone believe her?" Later, Leopold is also found drowned by the brook, leading to the conclusion that he DID know, or at least had a decent guess, of who killed his sister, Joyce (in the book, they are related and Leopold dies). Rowena does confirm Ms. Emlyn's statement that she DID see something that startled her: Leopold was in the library at the time she dropped the vase. Eventually a few more key characters are interviewed and the suspicions around Mrs. Llewellyn-Smythe death resurface.

-Judith Butler, who was at the party and is Ms. Oliver's friend.
-Miranda Butler, friend of Joyce and was home sick the night of the party.
-Michael Garfield, a man described of having an unusual sense of beauty, and (despite his arrogance) an impossible suspect due to him having not been at the party the day of Joyce's murder.

The details of Mrs. Llewellyn-Smythe's death, and the disappearance of her au pair, Olga, are eventually brought out into the open. Olga was accused of having forged Mrs. Llewellyn-Smythe's last will, and having been a crude forgery, was immediately dissmissed. Olga insisted she didn't forge the will, and planned to run away to Turkey, for fear of prosecution of the forgery and potential murder. Eventually, the house and the garden of Mrs. Llewellyn-Smythe went to Michael for his work in the garden, and he in turn sold it, but still works on it. Poirot eventually gets an idea as to where Olga might be, and his suspicions turn out correct. Olga's corpse is found at the bottom of an abandoned well, stabbed in a similar manner to Leslie from before, and Poirot puts together what all happened.

It turns out, Olga was the murdered victim that Joyce claimed to have seen before. However, it was Miranda Butler who actually saw the murder, or more accurately, two people dragging her corpse to the well. One of them thought someone was watching them, hence why they believed Joyce actually did see their disposal of the body. (It's never directly confirmed if they killed Llewellyn-Smythe or if she actually died of natural causes.) The reason they killed her was because Olga ratted out Llewellyn-Smythe's niece as having had an affair, thus resulting Llewellyn-Smythe's last will being changed. The niece and her partner then made an obvoously forged will to discredit Olga, and then killed her to make it seem like she was guilty and running away.

Poirot knows that Miranda is in serious danger, and advises Ms. Oliver and Judith to take her far away from the area for the time being. Although they get her some distance away, an older man succeeds in leading her away when she steps off on her lonesome to the restroom while she, her mother, and Ariadne are out eating together. She and the man arrive at a sacrifice altar, and are about to partake in a ritual, but Poirot enlisted the help of two young men to keep watch and make sure Miranda stayed safe. They intervene at the last moment, saving Miranda's life.

Later, Miranda is discussing the details of the murder she witnessed, having not realized it was a murder due to the fact the Michael Garfield, the man that Llewellyn-Smythe's niece -- Rowena Drake -- was going to forsake her invalid husband for, had told her it was merely a sacrifice. Miranda confirms she told Joyce, and Leopold might have guessed or overheard their conversation. Since Miranda wasn't at the party that night, Joyce told everyone that SHE had seen the murder. In a final twist, Poirot reveals that Miranda's father was none other than Michael Garfield. Although he loved his daughter (having been seen earlier drawing a portrait of her), he wasn't above murdering her to keep the secret. As for Rowena and Michael, Poirot theorizes that, having bought a small Greecian island with Rowena's ill-gained fortune, Michael probably would have ended up killing Rowena anyways just so he wouldn't be under her thumb. As for figuring out that it was Rowena who killed Joyce, Poirot reveals he figured this fact rather early because of the fact that Rowena was wet, claiming to have spilt the vase on her; however, by drowning a victim, the killer would naturally be wet, and Rowena was the only person to be wet at the time of the murder.



In the end, I found this novel to be really fascinating. I missed the fact that Rowena had to logically be the killer because I was so fascinated with the backstory of the novel. Seriously, I would suggest reading the novel JUST to see how different it is from the movie. I woul LOVE to see this novel adapted into a play or something, it was that much of an enjoyment.

[a.m.pietroschek]

What an age for murder mystery: The only people eager to socialize at all always had sinister plans, hidden agendas, and ulterior motives!!! 🤗

[keithbass]

I really enjoyed the movie but it had nothing to do with the actual story. Well some of the names were the same and that’s about it.
David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker did a great adaptation of the original story. This one was new and original and I liked it a lot. Just not Agatha Christie

[DubaiShortsChannel]

I might have missed something, but how did they explain a psychic lady speaking with the voice of the dead daughter and who did Poirot see in the mirror?

[secondwind]

they shouldn`t have made Ariadne Oliver double cross Poirot. they`re better as friends. I`ve seen the poirot serie with David Suchet, with Zoe Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver, they`re so much fun together.

[justafan]

The current Poirot actor makes him so full of himself. In the short stories Hastings calls it a ‘innocent vanity’ trait. In other words, he doesn’t know when he’s doing it. Think Sheldon Cooper in season 1 of big bang theory.

[sophiaisabelle]

We appreciate your insights on a Haunting in Venice. You'll always have our support.

[iseydelmar]

Watched the movie yesterday. Overall an enjoyable movie with a great cast and the right eerie atmosphere, but the main point that made me and my husband scratch our heads was the "OMG the Americans brought Halloween here, we're going to wear masks and costumes, what a fun and totally new experience!". In VENICE? A place famous for its MASKS and its CARNIVAL?

[originaluddite]

I'd always assumed that Christie's works were realist, till I read a few short story collections, and discovered that she had dabbled in supernatural elements earlier in her career. As a result, I was okay with hints of the supernatural, besides which, we are permitted to think it was all just that funny honey.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Brannagh finally felt like Poirot, rather than just an actor playing a part, and the essentially new story ensured it was intriguing. Besides, what a great setting for anything mysterious. Pity he had to have a falling out with his old friend. Maybe, at this point, it would be good to leave it as a trilogy, although I'd watch more if they were made.

[HappyHighwayman]

These 3 movies average out to about a "B". Also whatever character development he experienced in Death on the Nile were gone by the beginning of this movie.

[YukoValis]

I liked this far better than Death on the nile. It might be up there with Orient express, but not quite. All good stuff.

[bowlingarry]

Watched it at the cinema on Monday... lovely escapism ..dont take it too seriously and you will enjoy

[emilydiveley]

true story and Kenneth Branagh is amazing

[rootonesquare]

Kenneth is a good film maker, for sure. But watching this one put me off. Firstly for me, the odd camera angles didn't do anything to help the 'mystery' atmosphere. I didn't get a chance to read the book, but the movie makes sure to be extremely predictable, especially from when the medium puts the cloak and mask on poirot.
That one scene told us that there was going to be an attack on Poirot, AND that the medium was going to die. That also meant to me that whoever was the cause for medium to be at the house was most likely the criminal. The rest of the movie was just filler, imho. An okay movie, but a terrible Agatha Christie adaptation.

(Please Mr Kenneth, don't adapt any more of her stories of this is the direction the movies are going to take.)

[justafan]

Just watch the Halloween party poirit adaptation. It’s much more faithful to the book

[revdrianinvian]

The movie was pretty enjoyable up until the big reveal. Both the motive and the method was kinda bland. It was just not dramatic enough or even clever.

[brandishearer]

I liked the movie, but I am a fan of Kenneth Branagh. It has been a long time since the read the books but I am a fan of Agatha Christie & since when does Hollywood or other movie companies fallow the books completely.

[michaelbretten]

just saw this
10 little Indians I'd like to see made .

[Wergoheb]

I enjoyed it WAY more than the last two of these Poirot adaptations